Penumbra: Overture
by I Am The Raptor
Summary: My name is Toris. If we are lucky, then by the time you receive this, I will be dead. My best friend Feliks disappeared in the Penumbra mine. I've gone to find him, but come to an adventure I never wanted to have. Based off of the video game Penumbra.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, guys! This is my first Hetalia fic, but my editor and I have a lot more coming. I don't really think you guys care, though, so I'll get on with the important stuff. Just some things I thought you'd like to know.**

**1: There are no pairings in this. Yes, go cry in your little corner now. XD!**

**2: This is somewhat Sci-Fi, so some things will not make sense.**

**3: I use big words. I like big words. If you don't know what they mean, feel free to ask!**

**4. Character death. A LOT of character death. **

**5. This isn't a biggy, but there are some curse words here and there. **

**If any of these warnings do not appeal to you and you don't like how the story sounds so far, please exit the page, now. If you wish to stay, keep arms, legs, and any other part of your body in your chair or whatever the hell you're sitting in at all times.**

**Alright, I'm going to kill you with boredom if I keep up the long intro, so here you go!**

**-Insert dramatic fade-**

There are things I need of you. Things you may not understand, and may not want to do, but please, do not make the same mistakes I did.

My best friend, Feliks, deserted me far before I got here. I could claim the loss of my sanity, the letter I received when I murdered, blinded me to what I had to do. It would be a lie:

Human nature sealed my downfall.

My name is Toris. If we are lucky, then by the time you receive this, I will be dead.

If fate frowns, we all _perish._

My story began in February, year 2000.

For my part in this allegory, I'm not going to make the same mistake Feliks did.

Feliks vanished from my life right when I had really gotten to know him, so when he sent me a letter, a few days after I asked God to return him to me, it was the first time I had heard from him in 10 years.

A pity he was dead. Writing from beyond the grave must be something that will forever be attached to me.

His letter contained a key, instructions, pleas for forgiveness. I figured the dead don't have much use for absolution, so I turned his prophetic passing, which he inexplicably expected to come any day.

Of course, I went, as he knew I would.

I discovered that besides the evidence, he'd been legally declared dead 5 years ago, and so the old book, and collection of notes I had found, in the eyes of the law been mine the whole time.

My friend's instructions had been to burn the documents, raise no further questions. But that was his error. No man is immune to the shameful trappings of curiosity and…my humanity got the better of me.

The university I taught at was well known for two things: physics, and linguistics. I represented the first, and the man who had stood for second was stumped for my recent acquisition.

The book was indecipherable. The notes, however, showed a location in uninhabited Northern Russia.

It took me almost a year to book the last flight I would ever take.

As I watched civilization disappear, along with my country Lithuania, I realized my friend had disappeared a decade ago, almost to the day, and I considered in turn, what it was that I was leaving behind.

We landed on a strip of ice a few feet wide, and within minutes I was pulling away on a chartered boat, beginning the twelve hour journey that would lead me into my past.

**A/N: That was the prologue. I'll update as fast as I can. Thanks for reading! Oh, and don't forget to review. Chibi likes reviews.**


	2. The Letter

I woke up to the sound of a fog horn. As I lifted my head from my now aching arm, I realized I had fallen asleep while studying a map of Russia. This thing must be completely out of date, but land doesn't change too much in a few decades, so I should have a general idea of where I was going. I rested my forehead on both of my palms for a moment, trying to get the sea sickness and sleepiness out of my system. I was just grateful that we were finally pulled up at the dock.

I stood up, looking at the bottle of water next to me. I have no idea how long it's been sitting there, and I have no intention of drinking warm water, because it tastes really bad if you've never tried it before. I looked to my side where my journal sat. No, it's not a diary! Everyone thinks that!

Anyway, I picked up the journal and stuffed it into the backpack I was going to carry with me. I had to pack light, I knew that. Besides, how long was I really going to be out there? No offense to him, but Feliks was a big pussy. He'd never go that deep into a mine, even if he was about to die.

Why had he gone there, anyway? These are questions I would never answer for myself. Sighing, I stuck a hand in my pocket, toying around with a small metallic key. I took it out, walking over to a locker that held some equipment. I opened it using the key, and grabbed some extra batteries and an emergency glowstick for when my flashlight went out.

Speaking of flashlights, I hurried over to a drawer next to my very uncomfortable bed and opened the small compartment, picking up the flashlight and attaching it to my belt next to the glowstick. The batteries went in my pocket. I headed over to a small chest at the foot of my bed. I opened it, revealing...a letter? I don't recall it being here.

And it wasn't addressed to me. It was addressed to some guy named Ivan. The letter stated;

_'Dearest big brother,_

_Just a quick note before you set sail and leave me once again._

_I've left you a little something in the chest at the foot of your bed to remember me by. I really don't know why you only have one bed on board. Taking shifts because of it is no way to get your rest. But what does a little sister know about the life of war?_

_I'll be praying for you every night to win the battle you're charging in to, so you can come home to me safely, and soon. Please don't be gone for five weeks like last time! I know we might nag sometimes, but I really do love you, you know._

_I washed that scarf of yours. I knew you'd get it covered in blood in no time, but I still feel better knowing it had a wash._

_Before I forget, Raivis and Eduard have asked me if you would run into Toris, or whatever his name was, but I said he probably wouldn't. If you do run into that guy, whoever he is, don't say anything. Freeze him in the ice if you can, and I'll do something...special with him when you return home._

_Take care, big brother.'_

I was confused. How did these people know me? I never met someone named Ivan. Never! And now whoever wrote this letter-apparently Ivan's little sister-wants me dead?

What did I do? Suddenly, I had a very bad feeling. Whatever was going on, something was tugging at my gut to stay in the ship. Go home. Follow Feliks's original orders and burn the documents.

Get on with my normal life. But, once again, curiosity got the best of me. I had to find him, no matter what, even if he was dead. I had to make sure. There was still that tiny flicker of hope that he hadn't died.

He could still be somehow alive. Foolish, I know. But it was clear I was a fool. With a small shake of my head, I headed out the door of my cabin and into the deck.

As I stepped off the boat, setting out into the blizzard that had formed around me, I realized how utterly devoted I'd been to the discovery of my friend's past. I had no idea what to expect.

Soon enough, my concerns were justified. I don't know whether I lost my orientation, or my spirit, first, but I lost feeling in my extremities soon after, and knew hypothermia was setting in. I started looking for shelter.


	3. The Voice

I was shivering uncontrollably, hugging myself for warmth, but that didn't help much. I could barely see anything through the snow. What the hell was with Russia's weather? It's insane! Forget it, I'm wasting time.

_'So...cold...don't know where I am...need to find shelter soon...'_ I thought as I trudged my way through the deep snow.

It nearly went up to my knees, and I felt as if I was marching as a soldier, lifting my knee up to my chest between each step, nearly stumbling every time, hearing the same stupid crunch, crunch of the snow under my boots. All I saw was white, and I was really beginning to hate the color.

My head went numb a long time ago...but I can still hear the wind rushing past. Or is that some kind of animal in the distance?

Yes, it sounded like some kind if dog or wolf. I smiled a bit, or at least I think I did. My mouth was too numb to know. The animal's noise reminded me of the dog I used to have. He was such a cute, quiet dog.

I shook off the thoughts, and suddenly, my spirits rose high as I saw what seemed to be an underground vault ahead of me. Hurrying over, I grabbed onto the handle of the vault and twisted as hard as I could. But there was one problem. It was frozen solid. It didn't surprise me much, but I was still extremely frustrated.

Getting desperate to find any source of warmth or shelter, I furiously looked around the frozen wasteland. Then, I found it. A nice sized rock. Finally. Finally!

Even though I was strongly weakened by the cold, I was somehow able to lift the rock and heave it over to the vault lid. I smashed it down into the frozen metal, causing the layer of ice to shatter. I spun the handle once again. This time, it moved with my hands, and I was soon able to open the lid, revealing a ladder down a long, long hole. I turned around, swinging a leg over.

Once it made contact with the metal of the latter, I swung the second leg over, using my hands to balance myself as I began climbing down in a smooth pattern. Soon enough, it was pitch black. All I heard was the clinging and clanging of my boots and hands making contact and losing contact with the latter metal. Suddenly, I have a gasp as I felt my foot make contact with nothing but air. In the surprise, my muscles and nerves in my body had a mini spasm, forcing me to let go of the latter.

A falling sensation filled my body, as if butterflies were trying to keep me in the air, but were stuck in my stomach. It felt like hours before I finally felt the hard ground meet my face. When I awoke, I heard a voice. I didn't know if I was imagining it, but it sounded as if someone was mumbling words. It was a language I had learned in school.

Russian? I assume that's what it was. The voice was slurred, so it was hard to make out what it was saying. I finally decided to look up, able to at least see. I felt like I had just gotten a beating to the skull.

As I pushed myself off the metal ground (which really didn't help in breaking my fall), I took out my flashlight, scanning the area.

'Holy Martin Luther, my head...I can't believe I fell that far and survived. Although, looking around, maybe I didn't...what is this place?'

I began walking down what seemed to be a tunnel. It almost looked like...a mine? Holy Martin Luther, I found the mine! Ha-ha! But, this was no time to celebrate.

I came to a wooden door. I pushed it open, revealing a room. The floor was made out of wood, and there were shelves lining the walls with an assortment of mining equipment on them. I grabbed what seemed the most useful. Dynamite.

I also found a hammer. After I secured the dynamite and hammer to my belt, I looked around some more. There had to be a way to get deeper into the mine. Then, suddenly, behind one if the shelves, a small rat poked its head out and scurried away from where I had come from. That means there must be a hole or something behind the shelf.

So, I grabbed it, shoving it over. It fell, making a chorus of noise. I flinched, but, really, who would be here to hear it? Once the dust settled, I saw another narrow tunnel that was blocked off by wooden planks. Planks, meet hammer.

I hit it once, twice, three times before the planks finally gave in and crumbled to the ground. The tunnel behind it was unnaturally round and smoothed out. I felt a little nervous about going inside, so I looked around, maybe for a weapon. A hammer wouldn't do much. After a bit of searching, I found a steel rod.

Taking a deep breath, I crouched down and began crawling through the tunnel. I froze as I heard a low, rumbling sound. I waited, bracing myself for a creature to just jump out at me, squinting my eyes shut, digging my nails into the rock, body tense, heart pounding through my chest. Nothing happened. I finally let myself relax, trying to stay out of panic as I continued to crawl.

I slicked back some brown hair out of my eyes. I really need a haircut. I reached an area in the tunnel where I could go two ways; Left, or right. I decided to go left. After another few minutes of crawling, my hands and knees aching terribly, I found another room that looked like the first.

I stood up. Great, now my back was hurting. There was what looked like a lever without the actual lever, and a trap door. I thought about going back, taking the right way instead, but something-that voice again-told me to go through the trap door. I don't know whose voice it was, or how I was able to make out what it said through the extremely heavy Russian accent.

But, for some reason, I followed the voice's order. But how was I supposed to open it? The lever didn't have the lever! Oh, wait. I have a steel rod.

Maybe it'll fit. Holding the steel rod in my hands, I pushed it into the space where the lever would go. It fit, and the trap door shifted a bit. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise, almost sounding like an animal. I knew of no animal that made that noise.

Sounded more like something from a horror movie. My eyes widening in fear as the noise got closer, I cursed the voice in my head, desperately trying to find something, anything, to save myself from the creature that was coming closer. I grabbed the steel rod again, trying to pull it out, but it was stuck. The voice again gave me guidance.

"Push the rod, da?" I wanted to ignore it, tell it to shut the heck up, but at this point, I was desperate.

I pushed the rod as hard as I could, and the rumbling and noise stopped almost instantly. Okay, maybe this voice wasn't so bad after all. I was seriously going to kill Feliks for getting me into this when I found him. If he was already dead? I'm going to pee on his corpse!

Okay, maybe not. That's just plain mean. I turned around to look back at the trap door after I finally calmed myself down. It had opened, showing a winding staircase leading down. Might as well go in.

Whatever I was descending into, it was a hundred feet below ground, protected by two solid, metal hatches, located in a remote, arctic wilderness, and buried beneath the snow. I didn't know what to expect, but it made me feel something I hadn't felt since I was a child.

I'd never given it much thought before, but I realized our entire society is a network of safety nets: emergency services at the end of a phone line; health and safety in the work place; friends; family; lovers. All there, if something goes wrong, part of a carefully designed structure to prevent all but the most mundane of emotions.

Once again, I felt like I did when I was in high-school, surrounded by the smell of vodka and seeing nothing but a pair of violet eyes, knowing anyone that might help me - friends, parents, teachers - were too scared, or too far away.


	4. Zombie Dogs

When I was out of the trap door's long, descending staircase, I ended up in a tunnel that looked a lot like the first. There was a map of the area just ahead of me, and there were different directions to go here and there. Keeping my flashlight clicked on, I walked over to the map, locating where I was by a small dot. There was a place called the Office, so I decided to go there. I walked on the dirt ground, taking a left at the first opportunity I had, trying to keep the map in my head. I think I'm supposed to take another left here...? I came to a sudden stop as I heard a growl that was much too close for comfort.

I looked around urgently, thoughts racing through my mind.

There could be anything living down here. Heroks are for Hollywood actors, and fairytales. I'm not taking any chances - if I face off against anything down here, I won't last a second. Caution and stealth are my only defenses now.

I slowly continued down the path, my limbs becoming stiff due to my fear. Finally, I reached a metal door with another stupid spinning handle. I held the flashlight in my mouth as I used both hands to twist the handle, grunting a bit in effort to open the abused door. Finally, it opened, and I headed inside. It was another all wood room, with shelves and desks. On one if the desks was a journal. I picked up the journal, curious to see if any of the information inside would help me.

The letter contained a weekly update of the mine on the fifteenth of August, 1945. It mentioned how two employees had made cherry bombs and had gotten their fingers blown off by it. Whoever wrote the letter said that they had hid the bomb making manual in a chest in their office, which I was guessing I was in right now, judging my their journal being here. Other than that, there wasn't a lot of useful information.

On the table was a chemical that I recognized as Baxtrin. I decided to take it with me, stuffing the glass it was held in into my backpack.

Opening a drawer, I came across a small key. Might as well take that, too. Into my pocket it goes.

Next to the key was another letter. I figured why not and picked it up, beginning to read.

The letter contained another report, however, it was much more frightening than the last one. Employees going insane and committing suicide for no reason. Scientists believed that it had been a chemical in a rock, but I knew of no chemical reaction that could drive someone to kill themselves. Looking up from the letter, I glanced behind me, and then scanning the walls. There was something strange about this mine. And whatever happened to all the people that used to work here happened to Feliks. Had Feliks committed suicide with the rest of them?

It didn't seem likely. Feliks could be an idiot sometimes, but he was head strong. It'd take a lot to bring him down.

Exploring the room more, I ended up finding batteries for my flashlight, two packages of beef jerky, and a container of pain killers, just in case.

Now where was that case?

I eventually found it in the corner of the room. I figured the small key I picked up earlier would unlock it, so I crouched down next to the chest, taking out the key and stuffing it into the key hole. Luckily, I heard a click, and opened the chest, revealing a packet. The title was 'Big Book of Explosives'. Looking through some pages, each page had details on how to make different types of bombs. I decided to keep it, shoving it into my backpack with everything else I had picked up, along with some more dynamite I found next to me. This place was all about explosives, wasn't it?

Standing up again, I saw something on a shelf. It looked like some type of lantern, but it didn't glow at all. I stared at it for a while, as if in a trance. And then it happened. The world went white before me, and I found myself in a completely different area.

A man. A man who looked somewhere my age, clutching something unseen. He is strange, and yet, he is no stranger. Never seen before, still I know, this man before me is Feliks. I call for him, but he keeps walking at a quick pace, as if I wasn't even there.

The world blurred white again just as I took a step towards Feliks, and I was pulled back into the room I was in before. I felt dizzy, as if I was going to throw up, and I groaned. What the hell was that? I decided to not ever look at that thing again.

I decided it'd be best to get out of that room, and I found another metal door. I grabbed the handle, twisting it open, and back out into the mine I went.

I had been walking down one of the paths before about two seconds before I heard a loud howl. I couldn't tell if it was a dog or a wolf, but either way, I had a mini heart attack. I gasped in surprise, dropping my flashlight, and the howling came to a stop, replaced by growling, and it was getting closer. Trying to keep myself out of panic, I grabbed my flashlight, diving behind a nearby crate and pressing my back against it, my eyes wide in fear. I could hear my heart's quick beat in my ear, but curiosity as to what it was got the better of me, and I slowly peaked over the crate, gulping. My nose wasn't even above it from my fear.

I saw a dog, which looked like a German Shepard to me. However, this dog was different. It's eyes were milky white with no iris's, and in some places, the fur and skin had rotted away, revealing flesh. For a moment, I felt like I was going to throw up again, but decided against it.

The dog turned, heading back the way it came, but still, my entire body was numb from the fear. But I knew I couldn't just sit here forever.

I slowly stood up, moving like a snail to the opposite end of the hallway I had been traveling down, keeping my back to the wall. I began to wonder what in the hell had happened to that dog to deform it so badly. My mind wandered to that letter I had read, the one about the chemicals in the rocks. Was it true? I shook the thoughts away. It had only talked about suicide, not zombie dogs. Then a thought suddenly struck me.

If the dogs were like this, were the humans like this as well? It sent shivers down my spine thinking about it. I couldn't really imagine Feliks as a zombie. But this wasn't some stupid horror movie. Something was going on, that I couldn't deny. The question was what.

Once the dog was no longer in my sight, I ran at full speed, constantly glancing behind me to make sure it wasn't following me. Relief filled me when I noticed that it hadn't even noticed me at all. I finally came to a stop, panting and trying to catch my breath.

I looked up in front of me, only to see a door. Desperate to get away from the dog, I opened it, running inside without a second thought.

I entered the room, approaching another door a few feet away, not daring to look around for supplies. It didn't matter to me right now.

I pulled on the handle, but it was locked from the inside. Did that mean there was someone other than me was here? I could hear chattering. Thank God, that meant someone else was here! But why wouldn't he open the door?

Frowning, I decided I might as well look around while waiting for whoever was on the other side. Walking over to a shelf, I picked up an empty lighter. If it wasn't empty, it could be of some use, but I decided to keep it anyway. But it was the carvings on the shelf that perked my interest. It was the drawing of a lighter, plus a drawing of fuel, and then equals boom. There was the drawing of an explosion. These people must have been insane about explosions.

There were other drawings on the shelf below. It looked like five or six ants... Or were they spiders? I couldn't tell. Whatever bug it was, it apparently equaled a frowny face. How strange.

I entered another room with a door that wasn't locked, leaving the chattering man alone. The only thing in there was a crate with a few rocks in it. The floor underneath me creaked way too much for there to be just rock under it, so, just to give it a try, I picked up the rocks and threw them to the side before pushing the crate. Just by luck, there was a trap door there. I figured why not and decided to go in. I didn't want to go back to the dog, since the chattering man obviously wasn't going to let me in.

I was hesitant however, and decided to look around a bit more before I went inside.

I eventually found some more painkillers and batteries, but as I turned, I saw another one of those lamp thingies. Once again, I was entranced by it, and my world blurred white. However, it didn't last long. I tore my gaze away before anything creepy would happen, however, I felt sicker than before, but managed to keep my breakfast down. Speaking of which, I was starting to get hungry. At first I wanted to try the beef jerky I had gotten earlier, but then realized I only had two packages, and eating one already would be a waste, so I pushed my hunger to the side.

Heading back to the trap door, I noticed that it didn't have a handle. I groaned a bit in frustration, but this was no time to be lazy. I crouched down, digging my finger nails under the wood and trying to lift it. It took a few moments before it actually flipped up, and I gave a small yelp of surprise, falling back. My fingers stung like crazy, and when I looked at them, most of them had splinters or broken nails, blood seeping from the tips. Wonderful. This was just what I needed. I didn't even have any bandages.

Deciding it'd be best to ignore the pain, I slid down the trap door entrance, landing on stone. I would've appreciated a ladder or something.


End file.
